“Stop. Think. Do the right thing” I still remember when my little brother, Ignacio told me that phrase. At first I gave it no importance and just thought of it as a small quote that had no meaning from a little kindergarten kid. However, as time went by while working on “The Daily Bagel” it started to grow on me and made sense to me. I realized the importance of those simple six words put together, that not so long ago seemed childish and with no real point.
What happened that made me realize the importance of staying faithful to the “childish” quote? It happened Thursday when I was counting the money for the sale we had that day. When the sale started, I was not feeling well at all. I wanted to throw up the whole time and had a terrible headache, but still worked my ass off to make the sale a success. We were a team member down and didn't want to make the task even harder for my other teammates.
Once the sell finished and we were done with all the cleaning it was time to count the money. We came back to class, and I sat down to count. Because as the great Kenny Rogers says in his song The Gambler: “You never count your money, when you are sittin' at the table, there’ll be time enough for counting, when the dealin's done.” The song may talk about playing cards, but anyway the message serves for several other purposes like accounting. You never count your money with other people around and that is a lesson I learned the hard way. It started smoothly 100, 200, but then coins had to be taken into account and stress took over. My head began to feel as it weighed 50 kilos; my stomach kept grumbling, and I just couldn't take it anymore. Each time I counted something seemed off and to add to my bad humor people were talking around me which just made me make silly mistakes when counting. Barreto and Steve were only trying to help me. Nevertheless, both of them are people who like things their way and I just couldn't take it anymore. I exploded at both of them threw all the money in the cash box and left home.
On the drive home, I could not manage a smile. Adding to my misery of feeling sick, I had the thought of my reaction towards Beto and Steve. They were only trying to help and I F#@!*$ up. I then saw Ignacio’s face with his constant smile and careless attitude saying: “stop, think, do the right thing.” I had a moment of self-reflection. I knew I had done wrong by reacting that way and had to make it up to them. So instead of getting home and going to sleep as I had planned I got into project mode. I got home and got my finances in order. After one hour of shuffling money here and there, it was finally in order. The money made from the sale was 475 soles. I got the cash, went to the bank and changed it all to bills to keep it organized. Never have I had such satisfaction as when I finally counted my money quickly in bills; opposed to the dreaded days before, when I was always a couple of cents off.
That moment when I finally got my finances in order was the moment that I realize how I needed to stay true to that simple phrase that my brother kept repeating like a radio. Although you are not always in the same tune as your peers, you have to learn how to speak to them. That is what differentiates great leaders from the rest. Their ability to overcome sticky situations in a calm matter that will create no conflict among the group.
What happened that made me realize the importance of staying faithful to the “childish” quote? It happened Thursday when I was counting the money for the sale we had that day. When the sale started, I was not feeling well at all. I wanted to throw up the whole time and had a terrible headache, but still worked my ass off to make the sale a success. We were a team member down and didn't want to make the task even harder for my other teammates.
Once the sell finished and we were done with all the cleaning it was time to count the money. We came back to class, and I sat down to count. Because as the great Kenny Rogers says in his song The Gambler: “You never count your money, when you are sittin' at the table, there’ll be time enough for counting, when the dealin's done.” The song may talk about playing cards, but anyway the message serves for several other purposes like accounting. You never count your money with other people around and that is a lesson I learned the hard way. It started smoothly 100, 200, but then coins had to be taken into account and stress took over. My head began to feel as it weighed 50 kilos; my stomach kept grumbling, and I just couldn't take it anymore. Each time I counted something seemed off and to add to my bad humor people were talking around me which just made me make silly mistakes when counting. Barreto and Steve were only trying to help me. Nevertheless, both of them are people who like things their way and I just couldn't take it anymore. I exploded at both of them threw all the money in the cash box and left home.
On the drive home, I could not manage a smile. Adding to my misery of feeling sick, I had the thought of my reaction towards Beto and Steve. They were only trying to help and I F#@!*$ up. I then saw Ignacio’s face with his constant smile and careless attitude saying: “stop, think, do the right thing.” I had a moment of self-reflection. I knew I had done wrong by reacting that way and had to make it up to them. So instead of getting home and going to sleep as I had planned I got into project mode. I got home and got my finances in order. After one hour of shuffling money here and there, it was finally in order. The money made from the sale was 475 soles. I got the cash, went to the bank and changed it all to bills to keep it organized. Never have I had such satisfaction as when I finally counted my money quickly in bills; opposed to the dreaded days before, when I was always a couple of cents off.
That moment when I finally got my finances in order was the moment that I realize how I needed to stay true to that simple phrase that my brother kept repeating like a radio. Although you are not always in the same tune as your peers, you have to learn how to speak to them. That is what differentiates great leaders from the rest. Their ability to overcome sticky situations in a calm matter that will create no conflict among the group.